Can we talk?

The things we leave behind

From birth to death, we humans have been asleep during our life between 25 and 50 percent of the time. The rest is shared between a dysfunctional lifestyle, rampant disease; and, an epidemic of mental illness not yet designated in medical terms as madness. But; almost 2600 years ago, the Buddha defined this malady as "Tanhaya Jayati Soko": Greed begets Grief. Avarice, though not characterized in medical terminology as a state of mental illness; is nothing but an ailment of the mind that afflicts a vast majority of our populace. Greed creates want. And yearning leads to accumulation.

The greater the rapacity; more ravenous is the glutton. Have we ever thought what accumulativeness brings forth? To accumulate is to harvest misery. If we had reflected upon this sufficiently, we would realise that none but the lunatic would want to accumulate agony. What in the world do we accumulate? From the earthly piles of rubbish such as old newspapers and empty bottles to the supra-mundane collection of cause and effect is gathered and stored in a life time of existence.

Possession

From the moment of conception, aggregation occurs. We beget, from our parents: the gene that determines our genetics; name, fame, state, stature and the background that will launch our life; and, last but the least, the entitlement to all of or a portion of the material and immaterial wealth in their possession.

Parentage

The latter includes the horded mass of inconsequential junk of our parentage. Hence, let us look at the things we leave behind at the end of our earthly visitation. Kamma (Pali) or Karma (Sanskrit), at least, is not left behind. I am not aware where it goes. Some of it, I suppose, accrue to our children if we have progeny. But the rest? No life form on earth as yet known to man; man included, has the capacity to take along anything material on departure. Yet, we amass as though our life depends on it; that everlastingness could be achieved through it. The truth is: imperishability cannot be attained through anything we garner. But, a kind of immortality can be achieved by the way we lead our life. Religion and History are replete with enough examples of this form of enduring memory of persons - for reasons both good and bad. But the notion that wealth is a necessity to lead a wealthy life is a skewed up concept of the Victorian era.

Geometric

Like most values Victorian, we Sri Lankans still cling to them while the originators themselves had long given up on these archaic ideas. I am still not finished going through and sorting out the hoard of junk my granny had left behind - material and immaterial wealth included. And, this is long after my mother had spent the better part of her life sorting the usable from the useless out of all that leavings; and, in the process added further substance to the pile.

My mother departed this earth without concluding the task; leaving me the burden and the agony. I am not sure if I will be able to end this process which seems to have a geometric progression of accumulativeness. However, I am firmly resolved that none of it - assets and all - will ever go to any of my progeny known or unknown. But the process of getting rid of this stockpiled incongruous trivia - tangible and intangible asset included - is not that easy.

I will recall, just one such instance. 1962. I was a teen aged student in London. It was the era of the flower children; of flower power; the Beatles; the speakers corner at Hyde Park; West-End over the week-ends; fish and chips on the streets; cider and strawberries for lunch; pub crawling after dinner; love and loving; goodness et al. It was also the period of recovery from the holocaust of World War II. Hence, materialism as we know it today had not dawned yet. People were beautiful, friendly and had time to stand and stare, and appreciate this wondrous world and dream of others in the making. One day, a watershed of an incident occurred. I acquired: no I am sure I was talked into acquiring, a world war II relic of a motorbike of German origin probably left behind by a German Spy. It cost me one pound sterling at that time. A princely sum in those good old days. I was a boarder in Plumstead near Woolwich with Mr. & Mrs. Terrell, a loving and lovable couple in their late sixties who had no children.

I became their automatic adoption - unplanned and unexpected. The place was chosen and arranged by the British Council who were entrusted the task. This bike almost entirely occupied the space in the work shed of Mr. Terrell. Apart from this inconvenience, which Mr. Terrell occasionally exhibited through a veritable collection of groans, moans and grunts - his love for me having check-mated him from anything further; this bike was also more temperamental than all women I had known in this life of mine.

Movement

The bike not only gets heated up when caressed and cajoled into movement but also freezes up at the zenith of heat. There was nothing on earth one could do with it at such an instance but to contemplate upon the passing traffic and the surroundings until such time as it cools down. One day in exasperation, I decided to get rid of it. But believe me; I visited every single scrap yard in and around London at that time and all of them said they were full. My frustration and agony was unbearable. In desperation, on my return journey home, I abandoned the bike by the wayside near Woolwich.

Ecstasy

The ecstasy of good riddance was more than any happiness I had known. I never knew that bliss was this beautiful. Physically and mentally I was lighter than the wind; lighter than light and sound. If getting rid of just one burdensome item of material belongings can do this to man, imagine what can be achieved by ridding ourselves of all material and immaterial possessions that are akin to beasts of burden in our life. However, I return to the cause for this story: that, even if one wills it; it is not easy to rid oneself of belongings - both material and immaterial. It needs conscious, concerted and determined action. Three days later, Mrs. Terrell came up to my room in a huff. She wanted to know what I had been upto in order to bring the Police to her house. Like Sri Lankans of yore, the English then considered it an insult to have the police calling. I was at a loss for words because I considered myself a law abiding resident of any country I reside in. I was trying to think if, inadvertently, I had taken a one way street from its opposite end during my biking days. Lost for an explanation, I decided it best to meet the Constable who came calling for me. The scene that followed went like this:

The constable salutes me (the London Metropolitan Police actually did this in those days) and says: Constable: Sir. Are you Mr. Arjuna?

Me : (Boldly) Yes.

Constable: Sir. Does the bike having this registration number belong to you? (He shows me a piece of paper with the number written on it)

Me : (Faintly) Yes.

Constable: We have found your bike for you Sir. Sorry it took us this long.

Me : But I have not reported the loss of a bike! Constable: But we found it Sir. By the wayside, near Woolwich. Me : I know. I left it there.

Constable: You can't leave it there, Sir.

Me : (Assertively) But I don't need it.

Constable: (Emphatically) Maybe Sir. But you cannot leave it there.

Me : (Frustrated) Where else can I leave it? All the junk yards in London seem to be full and (pointing to the work shed of Mr. Terrell) I can't keep it in this shed either. And the bike doesn't start when you want it to start.

Constable: Sorry Sir. But if you will come with me, I will be most pleased to start the bike and hand it over to you Sir.

Reflection

I get on to the pillion of his bike and we reach the place where I had abandoned it. It had not been moved an inch from there. A reflection of the upheld values of the times. The constable starts it on the first kick and salutes me as I ride - not into the setting sun with titillating background score as in the Westerns; but into the cold, gloomy, wintery afternoon with the annoying blare of the traffic in the environment. My heart and head felt heavier than any known substance on earth. This story ended when I managed to talk a fresher at College, a Kenyan of Indian origin, into buying the bike off me for one pound sterling. What happened to him, thereafter, is another tale.

This incident is but one illustration of the difficulties of ridding oneself of wanted and unwanted accumulations.

Social animals

But in this day and times, there are many reputable organizations and institutions of charity that would welcome most, if not all, of our hoarded belongings. There are many a number of persons with less possessions than us, whom we consider the poorer but whom I regard as the fortunate, that would put to better use most of our messy gatherings.

The act of giving gives pleasure and brings happiness. To enjoy this blessing, all one needs is to rid oneself of the malady of greed and insecurity. By giving, no one becomes the poorer. We crave for security from want and hanker after wealth. But where in the world has wealth given protection from the inevitable. Instead, a healthy mind makes for a happy and contended living.

We humans are social animals. We are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of communication for self-expression and the exchange of ideas. We create complex social structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families to nations. Social interactions between peoples have established an extremely wide variety of values, social norms, and rituals, which together form the basis of our society. Humans are noted for their desire to understand and influence their environment; seeking to explain and manipulate phenomena through science, philosophy, mythology and religion. This natural curiosity has led to the development of advanced tools and skills, which are passed down culturally; we are the only species known to build fires, cook their food, clothe themselves, and use numerous other technologies. Yet, barring a few species such as bees and ants who hoard only nourishment, a vast majority of us amass anything and everything that we think would translate into wealth of some kind.

Sri Lankans are naturally generous and charitable. During calamitous times, this aspect of our nature comes visibly to the fore. Yet, in our daily life, our society has degenerated to the extent that we practise charity as an insurance for the after life rather than as an act of love and goodwill. We seek merit and endeavour to be meritorious for the same aforesaid reason and not spontaneously. We have advanced a long way in achieving meritocracy; but consider charity and meritorious deeds as a business transaction for future profit. I am saddened to note that, in spite of the presence of adherents of all the great religions of the world in our country: where, the Buddhist consider themselves more Buddhist than the Buddha himself; where, the Hindus are greater Hindus than the Trinity of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu; where, the Christians and all the rest are more devout of their religion than their originators; we have remained firmly committed to amass clutter - of the mind and material kind. Conspicuous consumption seems to be the order of the day. Material wealth appears to be the measure of man. Greed has become fashionable. Any wonder we remain a poor nation, when our values are so wanting.

"Chetana hang Bhikkave kammang vadami" : Volition, I declare O Monks, is Kamma

See you this day next week. Until then, keep thinking, keep laughing. Life is mostly about these two activities.

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